Knights 2015 tour - Stats

Knights 2015 tour stats 

(not inc Brine National)

Name                 Goals       Assists    Total

Oliver Loveland      12           9            21

Will Cornwell          16                         16

Ben Page-L            9             1           10

Billy Kershaw          8             1             9

James Pomfret       9                            9

Joe Baythorpe        6             1             7

Joe Cheetham        6                            6

Jake Parker            2             4             6

TJ Burgess             6                            6

Matt Smith              5                            5

Elliott Leonard         3             1             4

Dan Aspin               3             1             4

Cian Conway          2                            2

Sam Wilks              2                            2

Cam Syme             2                            2

Chas Syme            2                            2

Jack Peacock.       1                            1

Tour Synopsis - by the Unknown Knight

Mikey Armstrong I know you been waiting for this!

Much in jest - a synopsis by the Unknown Knight!

As the tour finally cultimates it's time to recollect on the enjoyable ten days. 

Despite living only two minutes from the airport Burkey still managed to arrive late wearing a matching Armani tracksuit whilst sporting a Lucozade bottle in one hand and a scratch card in the other. The players were distracted from checking in as we spotted a stunning middle aged women of whom was mother to one of our players - ask your son if you're the lucky lady in question! For the articles sake, this women will be named 'Lady A'. This was to ignite much of the tour banter! After emotional goodbyes were said, we as elite level athletes decided it to be best to consume a complete English breakfast. 

This amazing diet continued on touchdown in America as Joe Baythorpe (soon to be Gait Cup all star) and Jack Burke adapted to American life as they headed straight towards Chipotle. Much was purchased from Lacrosse Unlimited as Ben Page-Laycock took it upon himself to put a smile on the store owners face and subsequently a condescending frown on his parents face and he determined that half the store was an essential purchase.  

We finally arrived at the Gait Cup. The atmosphere was upbeat, the banter was flowing, and the players attempted a recreation of 'Lord of the Flies' when the heavily anticipated playing kit arrived. Pizza was ordered, the first of many, and we were in awe of the facilities available at a Divison III university. We were relishing the opportunity to play elite American opposition.

Our initial seeding was to be played against Quiet Storm and we started tentative conceding early goals as nerves got the better of us. However, we faught back playing our best lacrosse and came out dominant. Jack Burke put in a performance reminiscent of his David Beesley cup finals not to forget a stellar job on the face off by none other than Chas Syme. Chas' work was to become a key asset to our team throughout the tour. We were ecstatic to gain our first victory across the pond and as tradition posed for a picture with the opposing team however with a special 2015 Knights twist replacing the word "cheese" with the phrase "Lady A is relatively good looking".

That Guy, Zac Guy made his appearance on the second day accompanied by Division I All American athlete (and boyfriend) Tyler Knarr. We played high intensity, solid, fast paced lacrosse and ended the day with a 3-1 record as we became the "antidote to their venom".

Our winning ways continued into the next day as we won two morning games and proceeded into the playoffs where we met highly rated and soon to be Gait Cup winners Alcatraz Outlaws. Unfourtunatley we unable to win this game and thus our tournament came to an end. When leaving we noticed that our arch nemesis' Venom were playing the game after us... 

Scott took a prominent role in mocking the venom goalkeeper as he scooped the ball out of his goal after each shot by Luke. Coach then named the goalie after a useful cooking utensil, "SIVVOOO, SIVVOOO, SIVVOOO" was the cry. The promising sixteen year old goalie decided to hang up his gloves after this humiliating experience. 

After two days of what Hal does best, eating and sleeping, at King of Prussia we departed for the Bison Brawl at Bucknell University. This was where we were to flourish. 

Using Alan Stones as a prime example of lacrosse excellence we seeded third approaching the playoffs. It was here, without breakfast, we played our best lacrosse reaching the final. 

Scott was emotional at this period of time as winning the Bison Brawl had been the goal set prior to the tour. Unable to speak, we took the team talk ourselves and got off to an early lead. We went into half time leading 4-2. Both coaches told us it was ours for the taking and all we had to do was close the game out. However, after the half we nearly did 'a Brooklands' and the game got to 5-5. It was here a timeout was called where Scott and Zac were the difference maker instructing us how to close out the game. We followed this advice and came out victorious! The tears came streaming down Scott's face as final whistle blew! It was an emotional moment for all those involved.

This high continued as Spandau Ballet 'Gold' was murdered by the squad. This remained through all six hours of the coach journey to the Brine National. 

We were all aboard the 'soul taxi' to the event, apart from Scott who arrived one hour later... We were treated like royalty and utilised our accents to gain exclusive access to all areas. We played two difficult games against top level opposition losing the first to Connecticut and shocking ourselves and those around us with a draw to 2014 winners and well known lacrosse hotbed Long Island. This demonstrated just how far we'd come from Wilmslow 2013. 

This trip would not have been possible without enormous contributions from: 

Lynne Burnham - Everybody's second mother, organising many events and her relentless sales of raffle tickets and collection of training money. She was often the one motivating us for training when even Scott wasn't in a fit state to do so.

Chris Peacock - My Junior made an appearance every single Sunday and we were gutted he was unable to travel with us on the coaching team.

Mike Armstrong - Though busy with work he still made consistent appearances at training and too was unable to travel as a coach due to national squad commitments. 

Scott Dagnanleach and Mike Connor - Even though they're both pursuing their education across the pond, they still made tremendous contributions to training when back home. 

Jak Vav - Unable to spell his last name, in the trainings he did attend he was a massive help to the defence and progressed our play. He too was unable to join us coaching due to national squad commitments.

Tyler Knarr - Only with us for one day, he was essential to Chas' excellent showing on tour.

Zac Guy - The man, the myth, the legend. Some may label him 'the coolest man to walk the earth' but as it turns out, he's actually very good at coaching and playing lacrosse. Often shielding the referees from Scott's wrath, he's immense lacrosse I.Q was helpful in many situations. 

The parents - Personal taxi service and bank, avid supporters, and merchants in Facebook embarrassment "we gave your boys a hell of a beating" and "us mums love it".

Scott Weddell - This would all of been impossible without his work. Scott provides the only real exposure to the American game and has worked so hard over the previous five years to build up the programme and all those involved are so grateful for his work. Though sometimes we were "mugging him off" we all have the upmost respect for him and everything he's done. Our success was a testiment to his work. 

Here's to the most successful Knights team to date: 

Hal "SIVVOOO" Dwobeng

Jack "Beesley" Burke

Matt "I'm not keen I just know what I'm doing" Tatton 

Adam "Are you even trying to run?" Fox

Pat "What does Burnage mean?" Sugden 

Dan "Timperley first team" Walker

Sam "Tapper, tickler, clutch knockdown King, chopper" Harris

Jack "My goal was a worldie" Peacock

Chas "Arm breaker" Syme

Cam "Leg breaker" Syme

Matt "Hit the hay" Smith 

TJ "I love Matt Smith" Burgess

Elliot "Jelly" Leonard

Sam "Perm" Wilks

Joe "Underage" Cheetham

Cian "Old" Conway

Jake "I punch harder with my right" Parker

Dan "Are you number 69?" Aspin

James "That's a big internet bill" Pomfrett 

Will "Gatorade out the pram" Cornwell

Billy "Bilbo" Kershaw

Oil "Mr lacrosse I.Q" Loveland

Joe "All star" Baythorpe

Ben "Fish out the pond" Page-Laycock

Once a Knight, always a Knight #ET2

The Return - 04/07/15

Thank You to all the parents for our welcome at Manchester Airport! It was amazing and made the lads and me feel

Special.

Day 10 - Brine National

We walked back after the Championship Game on cloud nine, we had had our pictures in our Championship t-shirts, hugged, laughed and cried. It was an amazing feeling. I walked back with one of the captains Matt Smith and I can't even remember what we talked about. I think we just kept looking at each other in amazement. 

On our way back to the halls I noticed the Bus had arrived and we had still not had anything to eat but the Bucknell coaches had kept the cafeteria open. We had to pack yet and check out, the Coach driver was great and allowed us time to get showered, check out and eat. Whilst we ate we presented Foxy with his Birthday card, present and Chocolate Cup cake and sung Happy Birthday..........what a Birthday to remember.

We ate our last meal with Coach Guy and walked to the bus to say our farewells and it still hadn't sunk in.

For those that don't know - Zac played for me in 2008 for England U19's and we became good friends  and kept in touch, he understands my coaching and brings his own experience, the lads loved him and I knew this would work as it did in 2013. I know Sam Chopper Harris or "Choppi" as Zac called him got on with him well.

We hadnt even had time to celebrate but Burkey got them going on the bus singing "Gold" (video to come). It was a 7 hour bus ride to Richmond, VA and the lads soon all fell asleep physically and mentally exhausted, I had a grin from ear to ear and drifted off soon after.

The next day after more food we made our way to the River City sports plex to attend the Brine National and play in two Showcase games against Conneticut and Long Island, I could tell the lads where tired and probably wanted to chill in the Hotel pool but we had travelled 7 hours for this and this was one of the biggest Tournaments in America. I. Not going to write much about the first game, we didn't turn up and where a little sloppy but played well in patches, young Cheetham scored again and TJ blasted home. 

Our hosts where very nice and Joel Franklin that runs the tournament let us eat and d,rink in the tent after the first game. We went out to watch the end of a game before we where to play Long Island.

LI has always been a hotbed for Lacrosse and where last years Champions. We exchanged coins in a ceremony before the game and Matt Tatton and Jack Peacock where interviewed by toplaxrecruits.

We started slow again and I explained to the guys that we where not here to make up numbers and when playing another step up in competition we need to raise our game again, tidy up our game and spring not to our spots after all this was about national pride and Joel had asked for a battle and that's what we wanted to give them. 

I think it was 4-2 at halftime with goals by Cam Syme and a great low to high shot from Ben Page-Laycock. In the second half things began to change we put a long pole - Jack Peacock at Faceoff to give Chas a break and Joe Cheetham dodged down the alley to score from a tight angle, Jake Parker who improved so much over the tour then scored with a blast to the top right hand corner, the bench went crazy and the fans around the field started to get behind us. We then created a fast break from agreat clear by Burke and Joe Baythorpe ripped a side arm shot in the bottom cornet we where tied against a team selected from one of the best Lacrosse States. We had a possession to win it towards the end of the game after a great defensive stop but time ran out, to be honest it felt like a win and the score keepers and parents etc surrounded us and gave us compliments, we continued to get people approaching us and congratulating us all afternoon, telling us how they loved our uniforms and had enjoyed the game against Long Island. Joel was delighted with the score and gave the boys shorts and pinneys as a congratulation. It had been worth the trip and the complex we had played in and organisation of this tournament was excellent. Thank you to all involved. 

We all sat on the hill and watched the final content before we made our way back to the hotel for our last night.

Day 9 - Won 6-5 Vs Corning

Bison Brawl Champions 2015 - English Knights Lacrosse

The final is a bit of a blur, when I walked into the stadium we noticed the goalie from Corning was very good and had been named to the All-Star team. Corning had beaten Webster Thomas the previous day by one goal.

I think the team noticed I was emotional although I tried to hide it and they made their pre game and halftime shouts "ET2"!

We started well with 2 quick goals from Daspin and TJ Burgess, then it's was soon 2-1, Ben Page "the poster boy of Knights Lacrosse" then scored to get my hopes up for a blow out, it wasn't to be as Corning fought back from some nervous play by us, I asked them to take a breath at half

time and myself and Coach Guy assured the team that they would win if we played our usual game.

Will Cornwell scored on a man up and then a Matt Smith shot to made it 5-4, but Corning replied soon after, we called a time out. The defence won back the ball again and again and I asked them to get the offence another possession.

We got the ball to the offence and initiated with Pom Pom,he got the ball through X to Ben Page-Laycock who found Will on the crease he shot...........the ball ricocheted the off the post and into the goal!!!! I think Corning knew that was it as the clock was counting down. Our thought process was different, we knew we had to carry on and myself and Zac kept pushing. 

I think I blacked out at some point and I heard the ref counting down from 10 seconds. I heard the lads had piled onto Jack Burke who was in goal, I didn't see it as I was on one knee in tears of joy and reflection, two years of hard work with this team and 10 years of work planning and working with past teams had paid off. They ran in and group hugged me shouting ET2 it was a timeless moment, I can't say he wasn't on my mind as he had been all day and knew he'd be smiling down. It was an accumulation of things, this bunch had been one of the best teams I have ever coached and certainly the best Knights team ever, along the way they had played amazing Lacrosse and beaten some great teams. We had made friends, impressed people on and off the field and put the program on the map. 

I was proud of them all and they had made this a great experience for me and Zac. I'd like to think that the lads did it for the past players and parents (as well as themselves) that had walked the same road and slept in the same dorms!

The parents I know will be proud and I hope the players careers doesnt end here these boys can go to the next level, they have learnt how to win, I hope the life experience will last forever, I know the bonds will. The lads deserve a lot of credit for their commitment and behaviour- everyone in English Lacrosse should be proud of them - the first English team to win any American Tournament.

Once a Knight, Always a Knight!

Thanks to everyone that has ever supported the program from UKLacrosse and Graph tex to all the parents, we have built this together!

There was still more to come...................

Goals: 

Dan Aspin 

TJ Burgess

Ben Page-Laycock

Matt Smith

Will Cornwell 2

Assists:

Dan Aspin

Oli Loveland

All Stars

Day 9 - Won 11- 5 Vs Webster Thomas

We had reached the semi final, an amazing achievement and it was against our friends Webster Thomas on the same field we had been beaten by the, on the first day, time for some sweet revenge!

As the game was straight after the first one I was getting worri d about food especially if we got through to the final (fingers crossed) as again the final was scheduled for 10:15 straight after this game. We knew about W.Thomas from our first game and knew we had let it slip and if we put in a solid performance we could win.

Their Number 7-Travis Ford was a great shooter and powerful middie who had also played in 2013 for them, their Defense was well organised and really put pressure on us when clearing.

We traded goals for a while and then started to stretch our lead, they made adjustments and we did too, this is the real difference between US and English Lacrosse to be honest in the UK teams play the same way and win or lose playing that way, it really makes it a coaches game, the other difference is that you never have much time on the ball and have to handle the pressure. Our lads did an amazing job in this game of handling the pressure, listening to the coaches, handling the referees terrible calls and putting their players under as much pressure as possible. 

The Defense had a great game making last ditch checks, covering up for each other and communicating well, we wanted to squeeze them into bad areas when shooting to protect Hal and Jack, both keepers made key stops including a great reaction save from Hal tipping the ball around the post.

We pushed the players on and didn't want Thomad to come back into the game and every time they scored we seemed to add another to our total. Will Cornwell has scored some important goals for us and this game was no different until he received a viscous check to the shoulder. James "Pom Pom" Pomfret was strong and scored twice. Oli Loveland has been one of our players of the tour and they cleverly started to shut him off, we asked the middies to dodge to score and they did but Oli scored a great goal moving off ball making a hard cut at GLE, he received a great feed from Jake Parker to score. Joe Cheetham is a force this kids going to be a special player, at 15 he is fearless and isn't scared of taking chances as a friend of mine from Syracuse said "he's never seen a shot he doesn't like".

Joe Baythorpe scored a fantastic goal towards the end of the game dodging from GLE turning and then rolling back to shoot low around his defender. We knew it was over and they forced out defensively even more, the rules dictated that we had to keep the ball in the offensive box and Oli and Joe Baythorpe passed behind the goal to run down time.

I was numb after the game, a lot of memories came back from past tours and people that aren't with us any longer, it was very emotional for me and I let the lads start to walk to the stadium for the final, this has been my dream for a long time, we had already achieved so much and to be in a final with the possibility of winning the Championship was just amazing. I didn't want to effect them in anyway so kept my distance a little (Cheetham noticed and asked if I was ok), when I got to the stadium Zac was warming up the goalies and the lads where sat on the bench........................

Goals:

Billy Kershaw

Matt Smith

Oli Loveland 2

Will Cornwell 3

Joe Baythorpe

Joe Cheetham

James Pomfret 2

Assists:

Oliver Loveland

Jake Parker 2

Ben Page-Laycock 

Day 9 - Won 12-5 vs Free Agents

We had an early start for the playoffs and we had waited until late to hear that our game had been cancelled the night before, unfortunately the All- Star game had also been postponed. The lads where a bit disappointed but there was nothing that we could do, the weather had been terrible and we had received flash flood and a tornado warnings. I was proud to have 8 players named as All-Stars and that's what they should be proud, they can add that to their Lacrosse resume forever.

We had the 3 seed and would play Freeagents at 8am. We where confident we could get through this game and progress (hopefully) to the final. It was Foxy's birthday and I had witnessed a great scene the night before, I was sat in the hall way writing the blog as my room didn't get good internet reception and heard voices it was late and I thought someone make be getting a telling off here! Anyway I heard whispers and as I stood up to look through the door window Smithy came through to let me know that they where surprising Foxy as now it was midnight and it was his birthday! Nice touch and it shows how the lads wanted to make it special for him. I didn't watch but heard screams and I think they must have dived on him.

As I said yesterday, sometimes games get in the way of eating and as the game started at 8am we had no time for breakfast, as long as they where watered I thought they had ate enough to have reserves to last 2 weeks in the wilderness, pizza on pizza on pizza!

We were ready and had a count, however we where missing twoplayers! Who could it be? Surely not Captain Tatton and the face of Knights Lacrosse Ben Page-Laycock??? They had had an Alarm malfunction, I knocked on the door lightly and asked them both to get up politely hahaha! Tats stood there with his boxers on with a confused look on his face, everyone else was outside in their kit ready to rock! They got changed and I waited whilst Coach Guy took the rest of the lads down to the field. We got there a couple of mins later after Ben had done his hair, perfect!

We started very well with Sam "the perm" Wilks scoring on an alley dodge and high to low shot, the grass was long and we wanted to keep the shots away from the ground.

Hal made a great save and as the shot went in Peacock broke out immediately (good coaching)

He caught the ball (unusual) and we had a fast break he passed to Oli who gave it back to Peacock to finish on the crease. The first long stick to score this tour!

After we scored a few goals Freeagents folded we scored some great goals on the way, a one handed goal from Ben who ended with a hatrick, James pomfrets goal whilst laying down on the floor, a behind the back from Joe Baythorpe and an awesome shot on the run to the top corner from Joe Cheetham, one of the goals of the tour.

Goals:

Sam Wilks

Jack Peacock

Billy Kershaw

Ben Page-Laycock 3

James Pomfret

Joe Cheetham 

Joe Baythorpe 2 

Dan Aspin

TJ Burgess

Assists

Oliver Loveland 4

Joe Baythorpe

Elliott Leonard